that _H_englishmen so _h_often misplace their
_h_aitches?" It is a cockneyism; and if you have fallen into the habit, it
will require perhaps more perseverance than you imagine, to correct it.

429. Do you say _w_agabond or _v_agabond, _w_inegar or _v_inegar, _w_ery
or _v_ery, _v_alking or _w_alking, _v_atchman or _w_atchman? It is a local
custom, but if you have any taint of it, don't sing "_V_illikins and his
Dinah."

430. Provid_ence_, confid_ence_, and similar words, are often pronounced
Provid_unce_, confid_unce_, &c., substituting _unce_ for _ence_. So also,
words ending in _ance_, as mainte_nance_, suste_nance_, SURVEIL_lance_,
are pronounced falsely mainten_unce_, susten_unce_, &c.

431. _Coming_, _going_, _according_, &c., are often pronounced without the
final _g_: speak them distinctly, and pronounce difficult words with
de-lib-er-a-tion.

432. If you are a Yankee, you should (though, as a general thing, you
_will not_) take special pains with your vowel sounds, that they be not
formed through the nasal cavities. Don't say _heow_, _ceow_, _confeound_,
for _how_, _cow_, &c.

433. If you are a Western man, you are liable to give your vowel sounds
too great breadth. You should not say _bar_ for _bear_, _hum_ for _home_,
_dawlar_ for _dollar_; and it is better to avoid using such expressions as
_I reckon_, _I guess_, _I calculate_, too frequently.

434. "I am going _a fishing_:" be bold enough to be one among the foremost
to break away from the bad habit of saying _a fishing_, _a talking_, _a
courting_, &c. This custom, however, should be retained in quoting
proverbs and wise sayings; these are better in proportion as they are
older; for example: "_Who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing._" The
quaintness would be destroyed by saying simply _borrowing_ and
_sorrowing_.

435. Some people add a superfluous preposition at the end of a
sentence--"More than you think _for_." This is awkward.

436. "Then think _on_ the friend who once welcomed it too," &c. &c.: say,
_of_.

437. _Thou_ and _thee_ are no longer used in spelling or writing, except
by some of The Friends; but proverbial citations, originally expressed in
that form, lose much of their beauty and force by alteration; as, "If thou
seest thy house in flames, approach and warm thyself by it." How greatly
would a change of person tame the spirit of this fine proverb!

438. "By the street of '_By-and-By_,' one arrives at the house of
'Never.'" Do not